Proposal For Point In Works

OLD SAYBROOK — The ad hoc committee charged with turning Saybrook Point into a tourist destination hopes to present its plan to the board of selectmen next month.

The committee reviewed preliminary plans Thursday and will meet two more times to refine them before taking them to the board.

The preliminary plan presented by the committee's architect, during a work session at the middle school library, includes a boardwalk, a new miniature golf course, picnic and concert areas, a playground, an area for food vendors and open space.

``I think we're going in the right direction,'' said committee member Bill McLaughlin. ``We're trying to make this something that the town can agree upon.''

Madeline Fish, another committee member, said she was pleased with the results. She said the plan included items suggested by local residents during a townwide brainstorming session in March.

``This is being done as a democracy,'' Fish said after the meeting.

But she noted that the plan was still a ``work in progress'' and would be pared before it is presented.

Most local residents who attended the work session said they were glad to see the plans move forward to turn a town-owned plot of land, now covered by blacktop, into a place where residents can enjoy the Connecticut River.

But they were cautiously optimistic.

Resident Ruth Daniels said she was pleased by the plan because it included many items that residents had requested.

``The committee has done a full turnaround,'' she said. ``They really have given up a lot of their interests for the community. It has come a long way.''

However, Daniels said she was concerned because the plan had no dimensions and was just an artist's rendition. She also had questions about where the money would come from to finance the plan. She said taxpayers may be faced with many infrastructure improvements in the near future and could not afford what the committee was suggesting.

Resident Charles Wiltsie was also concerned about the possible costs to taxpayers. He suggested another approach: Lease the property -- a 2.3-acre parcel overlooking the Connecticut River, bought by the town for $3.1 million in 1989 -- and adjoining town-owned property to a hotel developer

``You're trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear,'' Wiltsie said.